The Advanced Vitrification System Canister Filling Process is a method for filling a canister with vitrified waste and glass making frit (hereinafter referred to as "waste") starting with a waste that is cooler than its melting point. The present invention relates generally to a process for vitrifying waste, such as nuclear waste, in a disposable canister.
The disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,237, which describes a canister and related method of in-situ vitrification of waste materials in a disposable canister, is incorporated herein by reference. The referenced disposable canister has an inner container and an outer container. The outer container serves as the traditional disposal container typically made of steel, which is insulated from an inner container, typically of made of graphite, by a layer of insulating material. The inner container serves as a crucible to melt a waste, contain the waste in its molten state, and serve as the disposal container for the vitrified product.
In the referenced patent, waste is added to the inner container and heated until it is melted. Then the waste is allowed to cool into a solid vitrified product. This process permits making a vitrified product occupying about 60% of the available container volume, due to the fact that the waste reduces in volume once it is melted. Increasing the fill volume of the container would permit minimizing the number of canisters required to dispose of a given volume of waste. Since reducing the number of canisters reduces the disposal costs, it is highly desirable to increase the fill volume.
Accordingly, this invention is a process for filling the container to a much higher level, that is, approaching 100% of the available volume.